Hunter Biden’s lawyers, prosecutors spar over evidence in pretrial hearing

Los Angeles — In a preliminary hearing held Wednesday, prosecutors in Hunter Biden’s federal tax case and his defense attorneys sparred over what evidence can be submitted as the case moves closer to its Sept. 5 start date. 

Mark Geragos, a new addition to Hunter Biden’s legal counsel, accused prosecutors of trying to turn the case into a “character assassination.” 

“If they want to try this case…on the facts, the evidence of the law, we’re very hopeful,” Geragos said. 

Prosecutors, meanwhile, moved to exclude references to the causes of Biden’s addiction, including the deaths of his biological mother and sister, while  District Judge Mark Scarsi appeared skeptical as to why the cause of his addiction was relevant to Biden’s defense. Central to the case is Biden’s struggle with substance abuse from 2016-2019, the period prosecutors allege he committed the tax offenses. 

Hunter Biden was charged with nine felony tax counts in a federal trial that comes on the heels of a felony gun conviction in Delaware for the unlawful purchase and possession of a firearm, for which the president’s son will be sentenced in November. 

Special counsel David Weiss’ office pursued charges in both cases after a plea agreement on two misdemeanor tax charges and a diversion agreement stemming from the firearms charge unraveled in court in July 2023 when the judge questioned whether the agreement would allow Hunter Biden to avoid potential future charges, as well as the charges related to his taxes.

In a 56-page indictment, prosecutors allege Hunter Biden engaged in a “four-year scheme” from 2016-2019 to avoid paying at least $1.4 million in federal taxes and charged him with felonies and misdemeanors related to his alleged failure to file and pay taxes, evasion of assessment and filing a false or fraudulent tax return. 

Biden pleaded not guilty to all charges. If convicted, he faces up to 17 years in prison.

Prosecutors say Hunter Biden had earned more than $7 million in gross income when he failed to pay taxes and said he funded an “extravagant lifestyle” and evaded taxes by classifying some personal expenditures — such as luxury hotel stays, luxury vehicle rentals and escort services — as business deductions.  

Attorneys for Biden asked Scarsi to exclude mentions of some of the more “salacious” details related to his spending that they say were “unnecessary,” “prejudicial” and “inflammatory,” but also likely to influence a jury to convict. In the hearing, prosecutors acknowledged the evidence was “ugly and personal” but demonstrated Biden’s “sophisticated” decisions on how to earn and spend money.

“We have an office of special counsel who on one coast wants to prove that Hunter was an addict during this time period, and then comes over to this coast that wants to run away from that and wants to recast it as an extravagant lifestyle,” Geragos  said

Scarsi did not immediately rule on the arguments related to the cause of Biden’s addiction and details of his lifestyle, but he sided with prosecutors excluding any mention that Biden, through a third party, paid his delinquent taxes after an investigation began.

“The crime was completed- he didn’t pay it,” prosecutors argued in the hearing.

Prosecutors also asserted that there would be no testimony during the trial alleging Biden violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) or improper coordination with the Obama administration but they will introduce evidence and testimony related to his foreign business dealings, which they say would establish millions in income relevant to the case. Geragos was critical of the government filings that said Biden received payments from a foreign principal- a Romanian businessman- in an attempt to influence U.S. policy.

Scarsi ruled that no evidence suggesting Biden violated FARA or coordinated with the Obama administration would be allowed during the trial.

Elli Fitzgerald contributed.